February 6, 2018 - On February 3, 2018, at Columbia Elementary School, 56 students from five Mother Lode high schools competed in the 39th Annual Mother Lode Regional Academic Decathlon Competition. Participating high schools included Bret Harte High School from Angels Camp, Mountain Oaks School from San Andreas, Summerville High School from Tuolumne, Tioga High School from Groveland, and Mariposa County High School from Mariposa.  The event was coordinated through the Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools office in Sonora.

The ten-event academic program strives to foster a greater respect for knowledge, to promote wholesome inter-school academic competition, and to further develop student communication skills.  Subject tests included art, economics, language and literature, music, science, math, and social science, and subjective testing included an essay, an interview, and a prepared and an impromptu speech.  The theme of this year’s event was Africa.

A unique aspect of the Academic Decathlon is that it includes students from all academic abilities and achievement levels.  Students are placed in an Honors division, a Scholastic division, or a Varsity division based on the student’s grade point average.  Each team member competes in all ten events against other students in their divisions.  However, team scores are calculated using the top two individual scores from each division to arrive at an overall team score.

The top nine students from each school also competed against each other as a team in the Super Quiz.  The Super Quiz is the only part of the testing event that was open to the public, and it was one of the most memorable and exciting parts of the Academic Decathlon competition. 

Gold, silver, and bronze medals were awarded for individual events and total scores.  Overall individual winners were recognized, as were the champion teams. 

The overall winners in each event were:

Art, Halei Belvail, Tioga High School

Economics, Emily Buss, Bret Harte High School

Essay, Michala Scholkowfsky, Summerville High School

Interview, Rachel Walters, Summerville High School

Language and Literature, tie, Halei Belvail, Tioga High School and William Thompson Mountain Oaks School

Math, Jessica Dominick Bret Harte High School

Music, Halei Belvail, Tioga High School

Science, Marie Schermeister, Summerville High School

Social Science, Alexa Hughes, Mountain Oaks School

Speech, Ava Dunlavey, Mariposa

For the 39th Annual Mother Lode Regional Decathlon, the overall winning team was Bret Harte High School with a combined score of 35,924.41 points.  Summerville High School finished second in the overall standings, but placed first in Tuolumne County with a score of 35,259.29 points.  The two regional champions will travel to Sacramento to compete in the state competition on March 23 and 24, 2018.  The state champions are then eligible go on to compete at the national finals that will take place April 19 to 21, 2018, in Frisco, Texas.

The Regional Academic Decathlon relies on community volunteers to proctor the written tests and conduct and score the speech and interview portions of the competition.  At this year’s event, over 40 community volunteers participated. 

The Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools congratulates all of the decathletes for their accomplishments, and thanks the community for their continued support in this important event.

For questions, please contact Glen White via email at gwhite@tcsos.us or call (209) 536-2038. 

Glen White
Director, Student Events
Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools

Source & photo credit: Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools